


Graduation Day

by JaclynKL



Category: Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-13 15:54:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10516962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaclynKL/pseuds/JaclynKL
Summary: AU from 2x22, Not Pictured. Veronica had a dream of what her Graduation Day would be like and never once did she picture it would end like this.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The Veronica Mars world belongs to Rob Thomas.

Graduation Day. A monumental bridge closing the gap between adolescence and adulthood that either elicits waves of excitement and hope or nausea and dread. In elementary school, Veronica Mars always dreamed that when her name was called she would stand up, walk across the stage and accept her diploma from Principal Clemmons. Cheers radiating through the crowd by friends, family and classmates, congratulating her on her outstanding academic achievements by being valedictorian, editor of the school newspaper and pep squad leader. Then after the ceremony she would go out to dinner at Luigi’s with her parents and spend the rest of the summer relaxing by the pool with her best friend Lilly Kane before going to Stanford in the fall.

That all changed during her sophomore year of high school. Lilly Kane was bludgeoned to death next to her pool and all the friends and classmates Veronica accumulated throughout the years had turned their backs on her when she sided with her father for going after Jake Kane, Lilly’s father. Now she was sure that when she stood up at graduation in the years to come that instead of cheering she would hear booing and slanderous comments. And to top it all off she would be one parent short in the audience, since her mother, Lianne, had abandoned her and her father when life got tough during Lilly’s investigation.

Surprisingly, when graduation day finally arrived for Veronica she walked across the Neptune High stage to accept her diploma and a rush of supporting chants and congratulatory claps echoed around the gym. Although she was able to stay at the top of her class throughout high school, she lost her standing during finals week when she skipped out of her last exam to hear the verdict on the Lilly Kane murder case against Aaron Echolls. The last shred of hope she held onto fell causing her to lose the Kane Scholarship that would allow her to go to Stanford in the fall. Another dream gone in a blink of an eye and yet she still never imagined her graduation night would end like this…

* * *

  **7pm Friday, May 26, 2006**

“Mac!” Wallace yelled as he rushed into the hotel room registered to Cassidy Casablancas after security opened the door followed by Logan Echolls.

She was huddled in the corner of the room wrapped in a bed sheet with tear stained cheeks. As Wallace crouched down in front of her she was able to control her sobs enough to just barely get out what she needed to ask. “He left me with nothing. He left me with nothing, why would he do this?”

Logan walked further into the room and leaned against the wall watching Wallace stretch his hand out to help Mac off of the floor and move her to sit on the bed. He moved his hand to rub the back of his neck nervously wondering if he should be here since he didn’t know Mac all that well and didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable with him seeing her this vulnerable.

“What happened, Mac?” Wallace asked as he sat next to her on the bed.

She looked away from Wallace and Logan and stared down at her hands clasped together in her lap, remembering the events over the last two hours. “After we left the graduation party in Logan’s room, Cassidy brought me here. We were supposed to…” She looks up briefly to see if her thoughts are registering in their minds.

Mac looks back down at her lap and continues, “but he couldn’t…” Both Logan and Wallace nod in understanding. “So I went to take a shower so we could go back to the party for a little bit longer. I didn’t mind waiting for a better time, I just figured he wasn’t ready. When I came out of the bathroom all my clothes were gone and my bag with my computer and phone.” Tears start falling down her cheeks, “I didn’t know whom to call and I couldn’t leave the room in just this sheet,” she says pointing down at the sheet still wrapped tightly around her body. She looks up at Wallace, with her face scrunched up into a question, “how did you find me?”

“Veronica was going to meet me at the party at 5pm. And when she didn’t show I started asking around. Logan overheard and told me she showed, but went off looking for you. I called you both and when neither of you answered I just figured you were talking and you’d call me back. But an hour passed and I still hadn’t heard from you so I tried again. When you didn’t pick up I started to get worried.”

Hesitantly taking a step away from the wall toward Mac, Logan softly replies, “when Veronica was looking for you, Dick told her you and Beaver got a room here. I told Wallace to look here first.”

Mac lifts her head up, starting to understand how they found her. She is still confused as to why Logan was here with Wallace. She never spent any time with him really, just occasional comments back when he was dating Veronica last year. “Okay, that doesn’t explain why Logan is here.” She shifts her glance from Wallace to Logan with a somewhat apologetic smirk, “no offense, Logan.”

“None taken, Mac,” he replies with a gentle smile. He meant it, there was no way she could offend him by asking why he was standing in this room with her and Wallace. He was a little surprised himself but he had no regrets helping Wallace find Mac.

After a few moments of silence, Wallace continues, “I didn’t know what room you were in so I had to go down to the front desk. They wouldn’t give out guest information so I had to ask Logan for help.”

Logan steps forward, standing straight up with the utmost confidence and places his hand on his chest while smiling down at Mac sitting on the bed. “It’s the Echolls charm. One smile and Tina down at the front desk gets me whatever I need, no questions asked.”

Rolling her eyes at Logan, Mac looks back at Wallace, “Moving on…where’s Veronica?”

Wallace shifts uncomfortably between his two feet. “We were hoping you knew.”

“I haven’t seen her since the graduation ceremony this morning. Did you try calling her again?”

Wallace picks up his phone and dials Veronica’s number. “It goes straight to voicemail.”

Logan sits down in the chair across from the bed, with a slightly more worried look overtaking the confidence he had displayed just a few moments before. “Could you track her phone, Mac?”

“I could,” she looks at Logan timidly, “I just don’t know if I should. Veronica is my friend and this is invading her privacy.”

Logan leans forward placing his forearms on his thighs as he pleads with Mac. “Oh, come on, Mac. You know if Veronica was looking for you she would have found you. And the fact that she isn’t here is cause for alarm.”

“It has been over two hours since anyone has seen her.” Wallace jumps in hoping to sway Mac’s decision to help them find out where Veronica went since she was so determined to find Mac in the first place.

Logan and Wallace stare at Mac with pleading eyes. Her face finally relaxes after thinking it over and she relents, “Okay, fine. I’ll track her phone. Since my laptop and phone are missing I’m going to need to borrow yours.” She looks straight ahead at Logan.

He nods his head with a goofy smirk on his face and jumps up from the chair. “What’s mine is yours!”

“Thank you, Logan. Um…” Mac looks down at her lap again with a little embarrassment, “can one of you go find me some clothes first, I really don’t want to walk into your penthouse in full party fashion wearing only a bed sheet.”

Logan gives Mac a little smile and pulls his wallet out of his pocket handing over his credit card to Wallace. “I will go upstairs and kick all the party guests out while Wallace runs down to the gift shop to buy you some clothes. Just come back upstairs when you’re ready and I promise everyone will be gone.”

Logan starts heading toward the door to go upstairs and clear out the guests, while Wallace squeezes Mac hand reassuringly, “I’ll be back up with new clothes shortly, Mac. Just hang tight, girl.”

She gives him a small fake smile and says, “thanks, Wallace.” He closes the door as he leaves. Mac sits on the bed as tears slide down her cheeks as she remembers the events of day. She wipes her tears and pulls herself together so she can focus on finding Veronica.

* * *

 

  **5pm Friday, May 26, 2006**

_**Veronica** 4:38pm Stay away from Beaver, he's dangerous! Call me as soon as possible!_

_**Mac** 5:06pm Meet me in the parking garage in 5 minutes._  

Veronica gets on the elevator outside of Logan’s penthouse and hits the button to take her to the parking garage below The Grand. She taps anxiously on the metal rail as the elevator descends, counting down the floors until she can meet up with Mac and explain.

The elevator finally reaches its destination and she walks out into the dimly lit parking garage looking for Mac’s car. She spots Mac’s green Volkswagen Beetle at the rear of the lot with its headlights illuminated. Veronica quickens her pace to a mild jog, eager to get away from The Grand. As she climbs in the passenger side of the car and closes the door, she finally looks up and sees none other than Cassidy Casablancas sitting in the driver’s seat pointing a gun right at her.

“Hi, Veronica.”

“Beaver.”

His voice dripping with frustration. “My name is Cassidy. Now hand over your bag and phone.” Veronica cautiously hands over her bag never taking her eyes off of him. He pulls out her taser and tucks it into the driver’s side compartment on the door. Next he palms her phone, sticks his arm out the window and slams the phone against the ground, shattering the device, rendering it useless. He also takes his own phone as well as the phone he stole from Mac and does the same. Tossing her bag in the backseat.

With a menacing smile on his face, he looks toward Veronica and says, “lets go for a ride.” Veronica tries to swallow the lump in her throat as he puts the car in drive and exits the parking garage keeping the gun in his hand trained on her the entire time.

* * *

 

 

  **8pm Friday, May 26, 2006**

Now fully dressed, Mac and Wallace knock on the door to the penthouse suite. Logan opens the door and true to his word all the party guests had cleared out for the night. He turns and walks over to the couch and points at the coffee table where his laptop is sitting out. “The computer is ready for your tech magic, Mac. Do you guys want anything to eat or drink?”

“No, thanks. It should only take a few minutes to track her phone.” Mac sits down on the couch, pulls the laptop onto her lap and begins typing away. After a few minutes Mac slumps back into the couch cushions and blows out a puff of air in frustration.

Logan continues to stand, while Wallace walks over to the couch and sits a foot away from Mac. He turns toward her and asks, “what’s wrong, Mac? Could you not trace her phone?”

Mac straightens up on the couch. “I had no problem getting into the software to trace the phone. The problem is the phone itself. The phone you want to trace has to be turned on in order to pin point a location. The only message I get is an ‘out of service’ message, which means Veronica’s phone is turned off. I have no location on her.”

Wallace looks over a Mac slightly confused. “Why would she turn her phone off if she was trying to reach you? Wouldn’t she keep it on so that you could call her back?”

Logan starts pacing back and forth across the living room. He knows Veronica, probably better than anyone else, besides Keith. He knows she has never turned her phone off unless she wanted space and for people to leave her alone. But tonight, when she was looking for Mac she was slightly frantic, like she had to find Mac right away. She wasn’t looking for space, she was on a mission, and when she’s on a mission she never shuts her phone off. Something is definitely wrong. Worry plastered across his face, he turns to Mac and says, “can you see whom she last called, even with her phone off, is that something you can check?”

Mac looks up at Logan and registers the worried expression on his face. She nods, “yeah, it will be on her phone log. One second let me pull it up.” She goes back to the computer for a few seconds to switch the screen. “Besides the three calls from Wallace, while he was trying to get a hold of her, it looks like her last call was outgoing to me around 4:35pm earlier tonight.” Mac scrunches up her face trying to recall where she was during that time. “I was with Cassidy; we were already in his room. I didn’t even think to check my phone until I was out of the shower and by then…well, you know, my phone was gone.”

“What about text messages?”

She goes back to the computer and after a few seconds pass by her face pales. “Oh, god…”

Both Logan and Wallace scream, “what?”

“There are two text messages around that time. The first one she sent to me, warning me to stay away from Cassidy. And the second one is from my phone, telling her to meet me in the parking garage. I didn’t send that text, which means…”

Logan cuts in, “Beaver has your phone and is using it to lure Veronica into thinking she’s communicating with you. We need to get down to the parking garage now.”

Mac shuts the lid on the laptop and tucks it under her arm. Wallace jumps off the couch and the three of them are running toward the door to call the elevator. The elevator dings and the door opens, all three jump in and Logan slams his fist down hard on the button the take them to the parking garage. Silence echoes off the walls of the elevator car as they try to piece together what is happening. The elevator stops and the doors open and they pile out.

Logan turns to Mac, “where did you park your car, Mac?”

She points across the lot, “in the back row along the wall in the far corner.”

Wallace, Logan and Mac take off at a run through the parking garage aisles as they approach the spot where Mac claims she last left her car. All three stop immediately when they reach the empty spot and look down to see three cell phones shattered across the pavement.


	2. Chapter Two

**5:45pm Friday, May 26, 2006**

It has been ten minutes since Beaver and Veronica drove out of the parking garage and away from The Grand. The entire time Veronica has kept her eyes trained on Beaver and the gun in his hand. The silence in the car is deafening and Veronica can’t take it anymore so she disrupts her focus on him and looks down at her lap to collect her thoughts.

Her mind is racing. She desperately wants to question him about his involvement in the bus crash and what she found out about Woody Goodman, but she can’t. The boy sitting adjacent to her is foreign. She has known the younger Casablancas boy for a good portion of her life. He was always shy, a little nervous at times and an ever-present shadow attached to his older brother Dick. He seemed nice, he was a 09er who did not go out of his way to torment her. Sure he threw in some jabs over the years to stay in good graces with the other 09ers that despised her, but his jabs were mild in comparison.

The boy sitting next to her now was sinister. He had walked around for the last two years playing an innocent version of himself watching the lives of the people around him crumble without a hint of regret. He was also highly intelligent if he was able to steer the investigations of crimes he had committed away from himself with no suspicion. It is possible he would have gotten away with all he had done if she hadn’t spotted his name on the Sharks Little League team photo, the last clue to bring everything to the surface once she is able to tell someone. But now he was unpredictable and that made him dangerous. She knew she couldn’t go in guns blazing spitting out accusations at him until she had a better understanding of his intentions.

Veronica shifted her gaze back to Beaver and the gun in his hand. He had just turned off the main road through Neptune and is now heading down a desolate back road. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see soon enough.” He says with an evil smirk on his face.

She doesn’t know how to process this information; it could mean a handful of different scenarios. Instead of fixating on his statement and not really interested in going back to dead silence she tries to make small talk in hopes he will reveal something useful. “You were obviously with Mac before you met me since you used her phone. Where is she now?”

“Probably right where I left her. I don’t see her escaping anytime soon.”

She tries to reposition herself in the seat hoping to dislodge the worry creeping into her chest. “What did you do to her?”

He pulls off to the side of the road next to a black 2001 Chevy Impala and cuts the engine. “Let’s save this story for another time.” He opens his door, steps outside, digs the taser out of the door’s side compartment and slides it into the pocket of his cargo pants. With the gun pointed at Veronica he says, “place both of your hands palms up on the dash board and wait for me to come around and get you.”

She complies with the request. She knows she can’t make a run for it, they are in the middle of nowhere, no one is around to help her and she has no form of protection. If she ran he would have a clear shot of her and she was not going to give up that easily. She watches as he opens the back drivers side door on the black Impala and pulls something out. He walks back over to her door and opens it, motioning for her to step out.

“Get out of the car and keep your hands in front of you.” He still has the gun trained on her but she notices he now has rope in his other hand, figuring that was what he grabbed out of the other car.

She stands up and holds out her hands. He tucks the gun into the waistband of his pants and starts tying the rope around her wrists. She winces in pain as he pulls the rope tighter, digging into her skin, showing no remorse. “What happened to Mac, Cassidy?”

He pulls the ropes tighter, “God, Veronica, you never stop digging for answers, do you?”

“No, I don’t. So you might as well just answer me, it would make life a lot easier for you.”

He finishes tying the knots around her wrists and takes a step back, his face contorting to anger and screams out at her, “you know nothing about my life. Nothing about my life is easy.”

She flinches as he yells and files his remark away in her mind to push him more on it later. Right now she needs to alleviate some of her anxiety and get an answer about Mac, so she pushes again. “What did you do to Mac?”

“Mac is fine, Veronica. She’s probably still in the hotel room I got for us.”

“Why would Mac still be in the room if you left her?”

“Because when she went to shower I took her bag with her clothes in it when I left. I didn’t want her to follow me.” With a sad smile on his face he looks at Veronica. “You know, I do actually care about her. She’s probably the first person who has ever looked at me for who I am without judgment. She actually wants to be around me unlike the rest of you who only put up with me because I’m Dick’s younger brother. I would never hurt her.”

Veronica scoffs and looks at him with disgust. “You would never hurt her?” Her voice rising as Beaver’s eyebrows twist menacingly “you left her in a hotel room with no clothes and no one to call. You may not have hurt her physically but emotionally you’ve destroyed her!”

Veronica doesn’t have time to process and react as Beaver’s palm connects with the side of her face. She falls to the ground on her hands and knees. She sits back on her feet as her joined hands come up to gently rub her cheek where he struck just seconds before.

Anger still radiating throughout his body as he looks down at Veronica, “I didn’t hurt her.”

She stands up as he grabs her by the arm and drags her to the rear of the Impala. “You slept with her and when her guard was down you left her alone. I guarantee she’s hurting and you’re to blame for her pain.”

He looks into her eyes, all the anger from before fading away as a sadistic smile crosses his face. “Well, I guess you would know how she’s feeling better than anyone.” Her face pales at the realization of what he has just said hits her. He opens the trunk of the car, pulls the taser out of his pocket and points it at Veronica. “Now get in.”

“No. You are not locking me in the trunk.” Adamantly shaking her head remembering the last time she was shoved into a small space. Ever since Aaron had locked her in that freezer last year she hasn’t been able to willingly get in enclosed spaces without fear flooding her senses thinking about that day.

Beaver begins to yell, “this is not a option, Veronica. Get in the trunk now!” Still shaking her head no, flashbacks of that night with Aaron pass through her mind as her body tenses up in this high stress situation. “Get in, Veronica!” He loses his patience with her and jams the taser into her side sending 50,000 volts through her body.

She screams out in pain with tears streaming down her cheeks as her body crashes to the ground. He picks up her convulsing body and throws her in the trunk and slams the lid shut. He climbs in the driver’s seat of the Impala and takes off down the same back road they were on before.

* * *

 

**8:30pm Friday, May 26, 2006**

Logan is the first one to break the silence after finding Mac’s car missing. “Please tell me you have a GPS system in your car and can track its location.”

Mac looks up at Logan with a dumbfounded expression. “Of course I do. Who do you think you’re dealing with?” She opens up Logan’s laptop that she brought with her and starts logging in to the GPS system. “I have no signal down here in the garage, we need to go back to the lobby. Plus, we have to get your car anyway if we are going to find my car and I’m assuming you don’t park in the garage with the lower class.”

He rolls his eyes at her and the three of them head back to the lobby. Now able to access the Wi-Fi, Mac pulls up her car’s GPS account and runs the trace. A moment later the laptop dings, signaling a location has been found. Wallace and Logan lean over and see the blue dot on the screen indicating the location of Mac’s missing car.

Wallace looks at the screen, “where is that?”

Logan digs his keys out of his pocket and says, “I don’t know but let’s go. One of you can give me directions while I drive.”

They head out to the front of the hotel and pick up Logan’s car from valet parking. Once inside, Mac starts reading out directions from the passenger seat.

A few minutes go by and Wallace breaks the silence. “I think we need to call Mr. Mars and tell him what’s going on. I know he’s out of town chasing down Woody Goodman but he has the right to know Veronica’s missing. He would want to know.”

Logan looks up into the rearview mirror to make eye contact with Wallace briefly before returning his gaze to the road. “No, if we tell him she’s missing he will come home immediately. Veronica wouldn’t want us to call him; she would want him out there looking for Woody. The three of us can handle this for now and if we don’t find her soon then we can reach out.”

“Turn right up here,” Mac says from the passenger seat. Logan pulls onto the back road. “Looks like we take this road for about 12 miles and my car should be there.”

Wallace asks hesitantly, “what are we going to do when we get to Mac’s car?”

“I don’t know.”

All three of them remain silent for the rest of the trip contemplating situations in their heads of what they might find when they pull up to their destination. Fifteen minutes later Logan is nearing the blue dot on the computer that has identified Mac’s car. It’s pitch black as night has descended; Mac squints and points forward, “up there, Logan, about 100 yards.”

He pulls up behind Mac’s car, leaving the headlights on to illuminate the area as they get out of Logan’s Xterra. Both doors on Mac’s green Volkswagen Beetle are thrown open. They walk up to the car and Logan spots Veronica’s bag in the back behind the seat. He surveys the area around the car and spots another indentation in the ground to suggest another car had been here. With one hand in his front pocket and his other hand snaking around his neck he looks over at Wallace, “Call Mr. Mars.”

“But earlier you said…”

Logan cuts him off, “I know what I said.” He points to the ground next to the car where the other tracks were. “If they switched cars we have no more leads to follow at the moment. Beaver could have taken her anywhere. I’m not thrilled about the conversation we are going to have to have with Mr. Mars, but Veronica is more important to me than my fear of Mr. Mars’ wrath about not calling him sooner.”

Wallace nods his head in understanding. He has always had his reservations about Logan in the past. He has always been nothing but an obligatory psychotic jackass, as Veronica puts it, he proved that after he smashed her headlights to pieces when Wallace first me him. But now looking at Logan and the concern in his eyes, he can see that he really cares about Veronica and would like nothing more than to protect her, and that puts him in Wallace’s good graces for now.

Wallace reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell phone. Scrolling through his contacts his thumb hesitates over the call button next to Keith’s name. Mac looks over at Wallace, giving him an encouraging smile. He bites his lower lip and presses down on the call button and listens as the phone rings waiting for Mr. Mars to answer.

He picks up on the third ring, “hello, Wallace.”

Wallace lets out a breath of air he didn’t realize he had been holding and deflates, “Keith…”

 


	3. Chapter Three

**8pm Friday, May 26, 2006**

Veronica was lying on her side inside the trunk trying to untie the rope around her wrists with her teeth but it was too tight and wouldn’t budge. She groans out every time they hit a bump in the road as her sore muscles contract from where she was shocked with her own taser. She wasn’t able to concentrate on the direction the car moved at first because she was in too much pain from the shock of the taser and the panic attack she had from being trapped in the enclosed space of the trunk.

It would be a good estimate to say she had been in the trunk for about an hour before the car started slowing down. She felt the car veer off to the side of the road and come to a stop. Cassidy got out of the car and walked to the back opening the trunk. Since it was now dark outside she didn’t have to blink out the sun to readjust her vision.

Cassidy peered down at Veronica with no emotion, “you can get out and sit in the passenger seat.”

Veronica did as he said, as she was not eager to repeat the earlier performance with her taser or his hand. Slowly she climbed out of the trunk and took in her surroundings as Cassidy closed the lid and walked her to the passenger side of the vehicle. There was nothing around besides a few trees. No other cars out either so he must have pulled off onto a side road as to not draw suspicion to a bound woman getting out of the trunk.

With her wrists still tied she sat in the passenger seat as Cassidy climbed back into the car behind the wheel. He put the car in drive and set off back down the side road and reemerged onto the highway.

* * *

 

 

**9pm Friday, May 26, 2006**

Keith was listening to the radio as he was driving down the highway on his way to drop in unexpectedly and capture Woody Goodman. He decided to drive to Reno, Nevada instead of flying. Since Mars Investigations was not hired by anyone to investigate Woody or the bus crash they could not bill the flight as an expense. Hoping to save a little money, Keith gladly took on the 9-hour drive to collect his prize.

He wasn’t in too big of a hurry. As far as he knew, Veronica and him were the only ones who knew about Woody’s secret hideaway cabin outside of Reno. There was a finder’s fee, of course, for catching Woody but the only real competition Keith had for finding Woody Goodman first was currently sitting in a holding cell in the Sheriff’s Department for breaking and entering. He was fairly confident he would be the one bringing home the bacon. And after he did he would take Veronica out for a nice steak dinner to celebrate the win for Mars Investigations as well as her recent graduation.

Veronica tried to get him to skip her graduation so he could get to Woody sooner but Keith also saw the look in her eye that was also wishing he would stay. There was nothing she could say to change his mind; he would never miss his daughter’s high school graduation. He was so proud of her. After Lilly died she grew distant and cold and he was worried about her. Over these past two years he saw the spark in her eyes return again. He wasn’t naïve, he knew working at Mars Investigations was what helped bring her back to life and gave her a purpose. He didn’t want this kind of life for her but he had to admit, she was a damn good investigator and it made his heart swell with pride.

His cell phone ringing brought him out of his thoughts. He looked down at the caller ID and saw Wallace’s name pop up on the screen. Wallace rarely called him, but before he would let bad scenarios flood his mind he tried to think positively. Maybe Veronica lost her phone and was calling to check up on his progress, borrowing a phone from Wallace. He hit accept and keeping his voice calm he answered, “hello, Wallace.”

“Keith…”

Wallace’s deflated tone of voice was the exact red flag warning he was hoping to never hear. Something was very wrong and he would bet every penny he had that something had everything to do with Veronica.

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m in the car on the highway about 2 hours outside of Reno. Why, what’s going on, Wallace? Is everything okay, put Veronica on the phone.”

“Mr. Mars can you pull over to the side of the road while I explain.”

Keith pulled over to the shoulder, placed the car in park and flipped on his hazard lights. “Okay, Wallace, I’m parked. Now please tell me what’s going on.” His heart started racing waiting for Wallace to begin.

“We can’t find Veronica. She’s missing.”

“Who is we? And what do you mean she’s missing, I need more details, Wallace. Walk me through tonight.”

“You are on speaker phone with me, Mac and Logan. Anyway, Veronica and I planned to meet at The Neptune Grand in Logan’s suite for a post graduation party. Apparently Veronica showed up to the party for a moment, but I didn’t see her. Logan ran into her and said she was trying to find Mac and left. But she never found Mac. Cassidy Casablancas had stolen Mac’s phone and was using it to lure Veronica away.

“Hang on, I can track her phone.”

“We already did. We logged into her account and read her text messages, which told us she was heading to the parking garage at The Grand to meet Mac. Except it was Cassidy using Mac’s phone. We checked the parking garage, Mac’s car was gone and Veronica’s phone was shattered across the pavement.”

Keith’s heart was breaking more and more as Wallace told him the details of the night. He had to keep it together if he was going to be of any help getting his daughter back safe.

“We tracked down Mac’s car on some deserted back road about a half an hour away from The Grand. The car was abandoned and Veronica’s bag was left behind the seat. Logan found tracks on the ground so we think they switched cars but now we’re at a dead end.”

“When was the last time any of you saw her?”

Keith heard Logan speak up this time. “Around 5pm. I am really sorry, Mr. Mars. Wallace wanted to call you as soon as we found her smashed phone but I thought we would find her with Mac’s car. I am really very sorry we waited so long.”

He could hear the amount of concern in Logan’s voice. He was never really Logan’s biggest fan, the boy had broken his daughter’s heart in the past but he would be lying if he said Logan didn’t love his daughter. It was there in his eyes every time he caught Logan looking at Veronica. Hearing this boy so broken was pulling at his heart. He knew Logan was blaming himself but it wasn’t Logan’s fault and he needed to reassure him. “It’s okay, Logan. Honestly, I really don’t think it would have made a difference if you called me sooner. It sounds like they were long gone before you started searching. All that matters is that we are all working together now.”

There was a moment of silence before Keith continued. He still had questions he needed answered. “Why would Cassidy Casablancas take Veronica?”

“We were sort of hoping you would have some insight.”

“I don’t know the boy that well. You all going to school with him would know him better than I do.”

“Um…Mr. Mars…we found out the reason Veronica was trying to find me was to warn me that Cassidy was dangerous.”

“Was she working on a case for him?”

“Not that I know of. But you know my daughter she doesn’t always tell me about all the cases she takes on.” He was well aware that Veronica took cases behind his back; he had even caught her a few times. He always warned her about leaving the dangerous ones for him but his daughter was stubborn and independent. He knew the thrill of the PI world was addicting to her and no matter what he said she would never back down so he taught her everything he knew to try and keep her safe. “You three head over to the office, Wallace knows where the spare keys are hidden. The bottom drawer of her desk has all the files to her open cases. Start looking there and see if you can find a case she was working on that connects to Cassidy. I’m going to turn around at the next ramp and come home…”

Wallace interrupts him, “no, Mr. Mars. You are almost to Reno. Plus, we don’t even know if Veronica is in Neptune anymore. It would take you about 7 hours to get back to Neptune and that is 7 hours we don’t have to sit and wait. The three of us will start going through her cases and if we find anything or hear from her we will call you immediately.”

He leaned his head on the steering wheel for a moment, he needed to look at this professionally and think logically. Wallace was right, they couldn’t waste 7 hours waiting for him to get back to Neptune, and Veronica needed them now. He would have to continue driving the last 2 hours to Reno where he would be able to access more resources to help find Veronica. He lifts his head off the steering wheel while sliding back into the authoritative voice of a Sheriff he states, “Okay, fine. But you call me the minute you find anything even remotely useful or if you hear from Veronica. I do not want the three of you pursuing dangerous leads on your own. Do you hear me?”

A collective “yes, sir” resonates through the line.

“Good. Call me with an update soon.” He hung up the phone, turned off his hazard lights and pulled back on the highway to finish the last 2-hour stretch to Reno.

* * *

 

**10pm Friday, May 26, 2006**

It had been a few hours since Cassidy let her out of the trunk to sit in the front next to him. She had to admit, even though she was so close to him it felt amazing to be out of the trunk where she could see her surroundings and stretch her legs. They hadn’t said a word since they got back on the highway and the silence was slowly killing her. In the quiet car she couldn’t keep her mind from flying over everything that could happen, she needed a distraction. She could only take counting the trees along the side of the road as they drove by for so long before it started to make her nauseous. She was definitely not going to fall asleep alone and completely vulnerable with Cassidy present. So she came to the only solution she could think of, which was to engage in conversation.

She looked over at Cassidy driving and spoke up, “I have to use the restroom.”

He looks down at the dashboard briefly and swings his gaze over to Veronica. “Fine. I have to fill up the tank anyway.” After a few moments of silence he looks back at her and continues with the coldest expression she’s ever seen on his face. “When we pull into the gas station I will untie your hands and walk you to the restroom. You will go in, do your business and come back out, 3 minutes tops. If you make a commotion or draw attention to us you will go back in the trunk and that will be the last place you see. Do you understand?”

Yesterday, she would have laughed at his threat, but after seeing this new side to Cassidy she truly believes he would follow through, so instead she swallows the lump in her throat and replies, “yes, I understand.”

A few minutes later he veers off the highway and pulls into a gas station. It isn’t very late out for a Friday night but since this gas station is just one of many along a long stretch of highway there is little foot traffic. Besides them, there is only one other car at a pump a few spots away.

He turns the car off and motions to Veronica to turn toward him so he can untie the rope around her wrists. Once she is free she gently rubs the raw skin and pulls her jacket sleeves over her hands to ensure that the bruises left from the rope don’t draw attention to her. She climbs out of the car and meets Cassidy at the back as they walk into the station together. He walks her to the back hallway and points at the bathroom, “I will be waiting right here.” Tapping the top of his watch, “3 minutes, Veronica.”

He walks into the men’s restroom as she heads into the women’s restroom and locks the door. She uses the bathroom and walks to the sink to wash her hands. As she’s drying off her hands with a paper towel she looks into the mirror and notices a faint bruise that has formed on her cheek from where Cassidy slapped her a few hours ago. She splashes some water on her face before pulling herself back together ready to meet back up with Cassidy.

She exits the restroom and sees him up at the counter pre-paying for gas with cash and also buying a few water bottles and snacks. He nods his head telling her it’s time to get back in the car. As they walk out of the station he hands her the waters and snacks as he starts filling up the car with gas. She climbs back into the front seat, breaks the safety seal on the water bottle and takes a sip, enjoying the feel of the cold water soothing her throat and waking her up.

He climbs back in the car behind the wheel and takes the second water bottle, opens it and takes a drink. He looks over at Veronica. “I won’t tie your hands up unless you prove to be a problem, do we have a deal?”

She nods her head yes, glad to have a little more freedom for the time being. She just needs to remember to watch her temper so she can stay unbound while she figures out how to get out of this mess. Keeping him calm seems like the best plan of action for right now.

He drives away from the gas station and back onto the highway. After a few minutes, Veronica looks over at Cassidy; hesitating briefly before speaking, wondering if her next question will be problematic. “So…where are we going?”

He looks back over to her with a smirk on his face that she cannot get a read on. “To see the Mayor, of course.”


	4. Chapter Four

**10pm Friday, May 26, 2006**

Wallace unlocked the door leading into Mars Investigations and Logan moves to open the bottom drawer on Veronica’s desk and pulls out all her open case files. He hands a small stack to both Mac and Wallace. “I think the best way to tackle this is to divide and conquer, that way we can cover more ground faster.”

They all start skimming through Veronica’s cases looking for anything odd. Logan slams the last file in his pile down on the coffee table. “I’ve got nothing besides cheating spouses, missing pets and injury fraud. I don’t see how Beaver would fit into any of those cases.” He looks up and sees Wallace putting down his last file. “How’d you do, Wallace?”

“Same as you, man. Nothing useful.” He digs through his pile and lifts up a file. “Unless Cassidy is the guy harassing this 97 year-old woman by sending a pair of his boxers to her every week, I’m coming up blank.” They both cringe at that thought. “Mac?”

After a few seconds go by without a response from Mac they both look up to see if she had heard Wallace. She was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed Indian style with files surrounding her. Her eyebrows were furrowed while she was concentrating on the photo in her hands.

“Mac?”

Ignoring their concern she turns the photo around in her hands and shoves it forward closer to Logan and Wallace. “I found this photo in the bus crash file. Do you know who that is?”

The photo she handed them was of a little league baseball team called the Sharks. Veronica had written the names of each player directly on the photo, except for one player off to the far left who she had yet to identify.

Logan takes the photo from her bringing it closer to his face to get a better look. “No, I don’t recognize him.” He passes the photo over to Wallace.

“Sorry. I don’t know him either…I have seen photos like this though. They are plastered all over the walls at Woody’s Burgers.”

Logan interrupts and looks at Wallace with disgust. “You actually eat there?”

“The food isn’t all that bad, Mr. Five Star. Sometimes the guys and I stop by there after basketball games and practice.” He turns his gaze to Mac. “When I played pee-wee basketball, out team photos always had all the player’s names printed on the bottom so you could ID all the players.”

Logan looks between Mac and Wallace as he digs his keys out of his pocket. “Let’s go. What time does Woody’s close?”

“Midnight. We still have time.”

They head down to Logan’s car and drive off toward Woody’s Burgers. Logan couldn’t explain the feeling in his gut. He had no idea if this had anything to do with Beaver kidnapping Veronica but in this moment it felt right to be following this lead.

* * *

**11:30pm Friday, May 26, 2006**

Veronica kept going over Cassidy’s answer in her head. What did he mean they were going to see the Mayor? Was he driving them to Woody’s cabin? She turned in her seat and rested her forehead against the cool glass of the passenger side window. She could feel her body relax just a little. If they were on their way to Reno this was good news.

He must not be aware that her dad was currently on his way to catch Woody. If he had known he wouldn’t be heading to Reno right now. It would be too risky to get caught. Making Cassidy believe he was the only one on Woody Goodman’s trail gave her an advantage. She knew her dad had left for Reno earlier this afternoon and they would only be arriving a few hours after him. She knew her dad would save her.

She started to worry again. Wondering what would happen if her dad didn’t know she was missing? Veronica glanced at the clock on the dashboard. She had been missing for nearly 7 hours now. She was confident Wallace would have panicked and called her dad. There was always the possibility that he would head back to Neptune after hearing about her disappearance. She quickly shook those thoughts from her mind. Her dad was the best investigator out there. She had faith that he would figure this out and come for her.

Cassidy turned down the radio in the car, pulling Veronica from her thoughts. “How did you know I was responsible for the bus crash instead of Woody?”

She sat up straight in her seat before answering him. “I didn’t know it was you until this afternoon. I found out that Lucky was the one stalking Woody. I went over to his house to copy some emails from Woody’s computer but I found something else too, recordings. I bet you know what I found next.”

Cassidy’s jaw was clenched. This was part of his past he was always trying to forget. “I identified Marcos Oliveres and Peter Ferrer’s voices on the tape, and in case you forgot those were two of the students who died on the bus.” She saw his knuckles go white from the tight grip he held on the steering wheel but he asked to hear this so she was going to continue. “I noticed there were pauses in the recording where another person was speaking but had been edited out. So I started looking through all the players on the Sharks Little League team using a team photo. All the people in the photo were identifies but none of them claimed to be the third hidden voice on the tape.”

She looker over at him as he continued driving with his eyes focused on the road ahead. She wanted to watch the smug expression on his face fall when she told him how she figured out it was him who caused the crash. “Did you know that Woody’s Burgers has a wall with all the Sharks Little League team photos from past years displayed for anyone who walks in?”

A smirk forms on Cassidy’s face. “I was never in a Sharks Little League team photo.”

“No, but your name is.” She smiles a little as his smirk wavers. “You’re listed on the team photo as ‘not pictured,’ which was enough for me to fill in the blanks. You blew up the bus causing it to crash and kill all those kids and the bus driver because Marcos and Peter wanted to come forward and out Woody as a child molester. But you wanted to keep the truth of what happened to you hidden. Why? Why kill Marcos and Peter and all the others when you could put Woody behind bars where he belongs?”

“Why didn’t you?”

Veronica looks at him confused. “Why didn’t I what?”

“Why did you not tell anyone you were raped?” She flinches at his statement and he carries on as if this doesn’t bother him. “I know you know. You may claim you don’t remember that night but after your little investigation last year I know you have pieced together enough by now to know that I was with you.”

She knew he was the other person who raped her after she read Woody’s medical history and saw Cassidy’s name on that team photo. But having him sit a foot away from her and admit to the crime caught her off guard. She couldn’t help the tears that spilled over and down her cheeks nor did she care at the moment if Cassidy saw her crying. Trying to hide the tremor in her voice but failing. “After I questioned you last year and you lied straight to my face, why are you telling me this now?”

“After this little field trip of ours you will be six feet underground. So I’m not really concerned about you telling anyone.”

She didn’t even try to stop the sobs that escaped. It was too much to process all at once. She just had to release all the emotion building up inside her.

As her crying started to slow down Cassidy spoke up in a very soft voice she could barely hear. “And to answer your earlier question, I didn’t want to tell anyone because people already see me as weak. My family constantly reminds me that I do not live up to their expectations. If I told people what happened to me they would never look at me the same way again. They would only see me as a victim.”

Even though Veronica hated Cassidy with every fiber of her being right now she could still sympathize with him. This is one of the reasons she never told her dad about her rape. She didn’t want to see the look on his face every time he looked at her. She didn’t want to break his heart and so she never told him and continued to hope he would never find out.

* * *

 

**11:00pm Friday, May 26, 2006**

Logan’s yellow Xterra pulled up outside Woody’s Burgers and they all piled out and headed inside. Bypassing the registers as they walked toward the far wall and began searching through the team photos to find the one that matched the photo from Veronica’s file.

“Oh my god…” Wallace and Logan stood behind Mac where she was pointing at the matching picture on the wall. It took them both a moment to understand Mac’s reaction but once they saw the ‘not pictured: Cassidy Casablancas’ inscription at the bottom they knew they were on to something they just didn’t know what.

Wallace was the first to speak up. “There’s our connection, but how it connects I have no idea.”

“It’s time to give Mr. Mars an update. We’ll call him from the car we need more privacy.”

They walked back to Logan’s car and dialed Keith. “Wallace, did you find anything?”

“We found a connection between Cassidy and Veronica but we don’t know what it means. Cassidy was a player on the Sharks Little League team. He was absent from the photo but we found him listed under the players not pictured. What does this little league team have to do with the bus crash?”

“Woody Goodman is the coach for the little league team. Veronica uncovered a recording sent to Woody from two players on the team, Marcos and Peter, who were accusing Woody of child molestation.”

Wallace and Mac’s faces pale at the news they are hearing. Logan remembers the day he spent with the Mayor after winning the essay contest. Woody showed him the gym and made him uncomfortable when he started squeezing Logan’s bicep. Now this realization didn’t seem so shocking to him.

“There were blank spaces on the tape where a third person would have been but they were edited out. Veronica was trying to identify the missing voice.”

“Do you think Veronica suspected Beaver as being the missing voice?”

“I think that’s a safe bet.”

Logan was confused. “Why would he willingly make a tape with Marcos and Peter outing Woody only to then edit himself out?”

They were all staring at the phone waiting for Keith to reply. “My god…”

“What is it, Mr. Mars?”

Logan, Wallace and Mac heard him blow out a breath before responding. “You would edit your voice to avoid being identified. On the tape Marcos and Peter were not only accusing Woody but also it sounded like they were trying to convince Cassidy to join them in turning him in. If he didn’t want this secret to get out that would give him motive.”

Mac shook herself out of the numbness crawling through her body. “Are you saying you think Cassidy is the one who blew up the bus, in order to keep a secret?”

“Yes…” Mac quickly opened the car door and ran inside Woody’s Burgers into the bathroom to empty her stomach. Wallace and Logan watched Mac run inside but remained in the car to hear what Keith had to say.

“We know Cassidy wasn’t on the bus and explosives were used to initiate the crash. Veronica said a group of students followed the bus back from the field trip in a limo because the bus smelled foul. I found a dead rat taped under one of the seats that was probably used as the excuse to get off the bus. If Cassidy was following the bus in the limo he would know exactly when the bus was in position and he would be in range to detonate the C4.”

Keith allowed a few moments to pass allowing Logan and Wallace to process all the information he just shared. Mac walked back to the car and climbed in. “There were bombs placed under Woody’s car and the bomb squad found them before they went off. If Cassidy was trying to kill Woody and the bomb squad thwarted his plan he would probably…”

Logan interrupted Keith, “he would probably make another attempt to kill Woody and that means Veronica and him are only a few hours behind you. Keith, you can get to her! But how would he know where Woody was hiding?”

“I don’t know. Misleading this investigation proves how intelligent he is. It really doesn’t surprise me that he figured out where Woody is. Right now I’m only concerned with getting Veronica back safely.”

“How are we going to save Veronica?”

“Not we, Logan. You three have done excellent work and I am so thankful for your help but I will take it from here. I will call you soon with an update when I find her.” And with that the call was disconnected.

Logan could not believe Keith was ending their involvement after everything they had done to help find Veronica. He could understand Keith’s desire to keep them safe, he never had a parent that cared about his well being, but still he was not happy. Waiting by the phone for Keith to call and say he found Veronica was going to drive him insane. He couldn’t sit idly by he wanted to feel useful. He needed to be there when Keith saved Veronica so he could pull her into his arms, holding her and checking for himself that she was okay. He turned in the driver’s seat to face Wallace and Mac and with a smile on his face he asked, “road trip anyone?”

Wallace and Mac returned Logan’s smile.

“I’m in.”

“Me too.”

* * *

 

 

**12:30am Saturday, May 27, 2006**

Keith had just arrived in Reno. After he got off the phone with Logan, Mac and Wallace he had to start formulating his plan for how he was going to get Veronica back. He knew Cassidy and his daughter were only a few hours behind him so he had to act quickly.

He pulled out his phone and dialed the number of an old friend who used to be a Sheriff in San Diego back in Keith’s rookie days. Since he retired a few years back he moved and started up his own private security company in Reno of all places.

“Hello?”

“Frank, it’s Keith Mars. I’m sorry for calling you so late. I need a favor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, we are nearing the end!


	5. Chapter Five

**2am Saturday, May 27, 2006**

An hour after Keith finished relaying his plan to Frank he pulled up to Woody’s property. The night sky and the many trees surrounding the cabin helped conceal his approach. He saw Frank pull onto the property and park off to the side of the cabin like they planned.

Keith slowly descended on the cabin, careful not to make too much noise, as Frank remained in his parked car. He walked the perimeter of the cabin looking for the best point of entry. He slowly jimmied a window on the backside of the cabin and made his way inside and found himself standing in the hall bathroom.

Keith moved across the hall to the bedroom but found the room empty. He slowly made his way back down the hall toward the living room where he found Woody asleep in a reclining chair surrounded by soda and beer cans lining the floor. He pulled out the handcuffs that were tucked into his waistband and gently cuffed one of Woody’s wrists.

Woody startled awake at the motion and jumped upon seeing a person in front of him. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, “Keith, what the…”

“Don’t look so surprised to see me, Woody. I’m taking you back to Neptune so you can spend the rest of your life in prison for what you did to all those kids.”

“Keith, I didn’t blow up that bus, I swear.”

“I’m not talking about the bus crash.”

“I would never hurt…”

“Save it, Woody.” Keith slapped the second cuff on Woody’s other wrist and led him out of the house. He walked Woody over to Frank’s car and placed him in the backseat. He then moved back toward the driver’s side window as Frank was rolling down the window. “Thank you for doing this, Frank. I owe you one.”

“Don’t worry about it, Keith. You just focus on getting Veronica back.”

“I’ll call you when I find her. Cliff is aware that you will be arriving in Neptune with Woody later today and he will meet you at the Sheriff’s department. Drive safe. And Frank, really, thank you.”

Keith stepped away from the car as Frank rolled up his window and drove off with Woody back to Neptune. One win down. He was so tired after his nearly 10 hours in the car combined with all the emotional stress of Veronica’s disappearance. He wanted to go to bed and sleep for the next three days but he couldn’t because Veronica was still missing and she needed him. With Woody on the road back to Neptune, Keith could focus on the next part of his plan.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the operator. “I need the number for the Reno Sheriff’s Department, please.”

* * *

 

**5am Saturday, May 27, 2006**

After their last intense conversation, Cassidy and Veronica drove the rest of the way to Reno in silence, neither one ready or willing to share more with each other at the moment. Cassidy took the exit off the highway that would take them into Reno. Ten minutes later he pulled into the parking lot of a seedy little motel off the main road that made the Camelot look like The Plaza Hotel.

Veronica was looking out the window confused, wondering if Cassidy thought Woody was really hiding out in a dump like this. She decided to break the silence to find out what he was thinking. “What are we doing here?”

“We’ve been up for almost 24 hours and this 9 hour road trip wiped me out. I want to catch a few hours of sleep before going after Woody.” He reached into the side compartment of the door and pulled out his gun, checking to make sure it was fully loaded and tucked it into the waistband of his pants. Cassidy grabbed his duffle bag from the backseat and turned to Veronica. “Don’t move. I will come around and get you.”

She remained in her seat and watched as he got out of the car and walked around to her side. Opening her door, he grabbed her arm and helped her out of the car. With a tight grip still on her arm he led them into the motel office. Once they reached the front desk she felt him shift slightly behind her and jam the end of the gun into her back. “We need a room.”

The desk clerk pressed a few keys on the computer. “That will be $40.” Cassidy threw down two $20 dollar bills on the counter and the clerk handed him the room key.

Cassidy opened the door to the room and followed Veronica in. The room was small with one queen sized bed, a side table next to the bed, a dresser with a busted looking TV on top and a two-person circular breakfast table in the corner. He dropped his duffle bag on the bed and pushed Veronica toward the bathroom. “You have 5 minutes.”

She turned on the light, stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, immediately walking to the mirror over the sink. On the outside she seemed cool, calm and collected but on the inside she was panicking and barely holding it together. She splashed some water on her face trying to calm herself down. The exhaustion was getting to her after being awake for nearly a day with the excitement of graduation and the anxiety of being kidnapped and held hostage by Cassidy. She needed rest but knew she wouldn’t be getting any with Cassidy in the same room.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. “Time’s up, Veronica.” She took one more deep breath and opened the door to find Cassidy on the other side pointing his gun at her. He motioned for her to come closer to him where he was standing next to the bed with his duffle bag. “Put your left hand out.”

“Why?”

“Just do it, Veronica.” She lifted her left arm up and held it out in front of her. “I don’t trust you enough to stay in the room while I’m asleep so necessary measures need to be taken.” He reached in his duffle bag and pulled out a pair of handcuffs and slapped one cuff on her left wrist.

She winced as he tightened the cuff on top of her raw bruises left behind from the ropes he used yesterday. “Why do you have all this stuff,” she asked pointing to his bag.

“I wanted to be prepared for when I found Woody. I couldn’t rely on his cabin being stocked with what I would need so I brought a mix of things myself. Good thing too, I didn’t plan on you being here, of course. You’ve slowed me down a little but the overall plan remains the same, find Woody and kill him. Whatever happens to you will be your own fault. You butted into my business and killing you will just be a bonus.” He smirked at her as he slapped the other cuff on his own wrist, tethering them together.

* * *

 

**8:30am Saturday, May 27, 2006**

Keith was standing on Woody’s property next to a few squad cars impatiently checking the time every few minutes. After Frank left with Woody, Keith called the Sheriff’s Department to send over a few deputies as backup for when Cassidy arrived. He didn’t understand what was taking so long; Cassidy and Veronica should have already been in Reno several hours ago.

* * *

 

**8:55am Saturday, May 27, 2006**

Veronica was lying on her back next to a sleeping Cassidy staring up at the ceiling. She never fell asleep; instead she kept trying to work up the courage to get in the drawer in the nightstand where Cassidy had stored his gun for the night. The problem was that Cassidy was sleeping between her and the nightstand. Since their wrists were hand cuffed together she would have to crawl on top of him to get to the drawer. Not only did she not want to be in that position she was afraid any movement she made would wake him up. So she had remained stock still for the last 3 hours.

The chirping of the alarm clock tore her gaze from the ceiling. She watched him slap the top of the clock to stop the alarm and saw it was now 9am. He started to get out of bed and by default of being cuffed together she followed. He was too lost in his own mind about his mission to kill Woody that he didn’t seem to care that he was jerking her around the room while he was packing up his belongings.

He motioned for her to sit on the bed and unlocked the handcuffs from their wrists. “Use the bathroom if you need to, we leave in 5 minutes.” He watched her walk into the bathroom and close the door. While Veronica was in the bathroom Cassidy walked over to the nightstand and grabbed his gun. Veronica exited the bathroom; he picked up his duffle bag and threw the strap up on his shoulder. He grabbed her arm and moved her toward the door. With his gun trained on the small of her back they walked across the parking lot and climbed into the car.

She knew this was the final showdown. A few hours from now Woody would probably be dead and she…she would probably be dead too. On the drive to Woody’s cabin she couldn’t help thinking about all the people in her life she cared for.

_Mac. The Q to her Bond. They didn’t have the typical female relationship where they sat around and talked about boys while painting their nails. Mac was the first girl friend she had since Lilly. She knew all the rumors and still never judged Veronica or treated her poorly like everyone else._

_Wallace. Her Papabear. She was so grateful for that day outside by the flagpole. She was just trying to do the right thing and prevent another innocent person from being tormented by the vicious student body at Neptune High. She never expected his friendship in return and it meant the world to her when he asked to sit next to her at lunch. Veronica was so afraid she was going to be alone throughout the rest of high school and then Wallace showed up and thawed her heart a little after Lilly’s death froze it._

_Keith. Her dad. The biggest supported in her life. The only person who never left her. She was so proud to be Keith Mars’ daughter, he was her hero. It always hurt to think about how her mom continuously held onto her affair with Jake Kane. She hated her mom for breaking her father’s heart. She used to be livid that her mom abandoned them but now she wouldn’t trade this life for anything. Her dad loved her so much that even when life had broken them he put her first._

_Logan. They may not have been on the best of terms since the morning of Alterna-Prom but he was never far from her thoughts. He had been in her life for the past six years. Before he turned on her after Lilly died they were close. Lilly may have been her best friend but Logan was the one who knew her best. He knew all her favorite things, her deepest secrets and could read her moods after a split second glance and offer her the comfort she needed. Having Lilly torn from her life was hard but watching Logan voluntarily walk away from her was unbearable. The pain he was feeling drove his actions. She would give anything to erase all the hurt, betrayal and sadness from his life because he had suffered more than any person should. She loved Logan. She’s never said it out loud to him or anyone else but her love for him has always been there. Maybe some day she would be able to tell him._

Cassidy turned onto Woody’s property where he spotted the cabin. As he got closer he saw a bright flash off to the right. He looked over and saw the sunlight reflecting off a mirror on a car. And not just any car, it was a squad car. He started to panic as he saw all his plans crumbling. He quickly turned the car around and sped off away from the cabin back to the main road.

Veronica watched out the side mirror as Cassidy drove off several deputies and her dad jump in the squad cars to speed off after them.

They were now flying down the main road with the deputies about 150 yards behind them. Cassidy’s voice was dripping with venom as his hands were clenched around the wheel. “Why were the cops there waiting for us, Veronica? Who did you call?”

Her hands were gripping the seat tight; Cassidy was driving faster than she felt comfortable with. Veronica was baffled, why would he think she called someone, she had been in his view this entire trip. “I didn’t…”

He pounded his fist against the wheel. “You’re lying!”

“Cassidy, I swear I didn’t call anyone.”

He looked in the rearview mirror, the squad cars were still chasing them but they weren’t gaining any ground. He looked over at Veronica to lay into her for completely ruining his plans. “I know it was you! When did you do it, Veronica? Was it when I was sleeping or one of your trips to the bathroom? Those were the only times I didn’t have my eyes on you! How did you do it, Veronica? How…”

Veronica felt the car start to veer off to the left crossing the centerline dividing the different directions of traffic flow. She looked away from Cassidy and out the windshield where she saw a truck coming toward them. Her eyes widened in terror as she yelled, “Cassidy!”

He turned his gaze back to the road in time to notice the truck plowing toward them. Cassidy threw the wheel all the way to the right to steer them away from the truck but the movement was too sharp for the car to handle at the speed they were going.

Keith sat in the passenger seat of one of the squad cars tailing Cassidy and Veronica. He watched in horror as the car missed the oncoming truck and sharply turned to the right. The car carrying Cassidy and Veronica lifted up on two wheels and began to barrel roll down the road coming to a stop upside down.

Cassidy’s body was hanging limp upside down in the vehicle held up by his seatbelt. Veronica was screaming out in pain unable to move. Darkness clouded her vision as the pain intensified. A few seconds later her screams ceased and her eyes slowly closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter will be added this weekend! Thank you all very much for following me on this journey. I have enjoyed my first writing experience more than I ever thought possible!


	6. Chapter Six

**1pm Saturday, May 27, 2006**

“Sir?...Mr. Mars?...” A short nurse with brown hair in her early 40’s was hesitantly trying to get the attention of the grief-stricken father in front of her. “We have setup a room down the hall for you to get some rest. I promise to come wake you when there is a new update.” After getting no response she moved back to her seat behind the information desk and continued to keep an eye on him.

Keith was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital feeling numb and broken while waiting for a doctor to come out and give him news on Veronica. He had his elbows on his knees with his hands holding his head up while the scene of the accident played on a loop in his mind.

_When the squad car pulled to a stop behind the upside down Impala, Keith darted out of the car. As he got closer his steps started to slow down and falter, terrified at what he might find. The road was littered by shattered car parts and broken glass, so he stood off to the side to allow the emergency crews to work. As a former Sheriff he had rolled up to a few scenes like this one over the years. He would hear the blaring screams of sirens from squad cars, fire trucks and ambulances. Red and blue flashing lights would light up the sky even during the day. Rescue crews would be barking out orders over the roar of their equipment. Not today. Today Keith heard nothing. Shock had taken over and tuned everything out as he stood there staring at the totaled car in the road._

_He watched as emergency crews quickly worked to pry the car apart to get to the two teenagers inside. A few minutes later a backboard carrying a battered, broken and lifeless looking Veronica was placed on a nearby stretcher. He followed behind the stretcher and climbed into the back of the ambulance. In this moment he didn’t care to stick around and find out what happened to Cassidy, he was the reason Veronica was now fighting for her life. Tears fell down his cheeks as he gently reached out to hold his daughter’s hand, desperately trying to transfer all of his strength to her._

Keith had not moved from his spot in the waiting room since he arrived. He continued to stare at the floor until three pairs of tennis shoes entered his space standing in front of him. He looked up to find Wallace, Mac and Logan looking down at him with matching sunken faces.

Mac was the first one to speak up as she sat in the chair next to Keith. “We would have been here sooner but they closed the road after…how is she?”

Keith wiped at his eyes where tears started to collect. He couldn’t believe these three had driven all the way here. This had Logan written all over it. He should not have been surprised that they disobeyed his orders but he was glad they did, having them here would help. It’s better than sitting alone. “They haven’t told me much. She’s been in surgery for a few hours.” He started to lose control and breakdown. “Which is…which is good…it means she’s fighting. She was so…”

Wallace sat down next to Keith and placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder to try and comfort him. “She will get through this, Mr. Mars. Veronica has never been one to give up. You know she will fight until there’s nothing left and she will come out on top.”

Keith smiled weakly at Wallace. “You’re right, everything will be fine. She will be fine. Thank you, Wallace.”

The nurse from earlier made her way back over to the group hoping the teenagers would help convince Mr. Mars to get some rest. “Mr. Mars, would you like to get some rest now?”

“No, no. I’d like to stay here and wait for the doctor.”

Logan kneeled down in front of Keith. “I think you should get some rest. You have been up for a day and a half with no breaks. You are exhausted and it has been a rough day. We will come get you as soon as the doctor gets here, I promise. Veronica would want you to take care of yourself and she’s going to need you at full strength when they bring her out of surgery.”

Keith nodded his head at Logan. He would go get some rest because Veronica needed him. He slowly stood up and followed the nurse down the hall. Logan walked over to the window, running his hands through his hair as he began to cry.

* * *

 

**4pm Saturday, May 27, 2006**

“Family for Veronica Mars?”

Wallace jumped up from his chair. “We’re here! I’ll go get her father.”

Keith and Wallace stood next to Logan and Mac in front of the doctor listening as he gave them an update. “Ms. Mars has suffered a great trauma. It was touch and go throughout most of the surgery but she was able to hold on, fight and pull through. You’ve got a tough daughter there, Mr. Mars.” They all smiled because this doctor didn’t know how tough she actually was. “That said she is in no way out of the woods yet. Her body needs to heal and that will take time. It will be painful and hard and she will need a lot of support from all of you. Right now she is stable but unconscious. We won’t know the extent of any lasting damage until she wakes up. I don’t have the answer as to when she will wake up, that is entirely up to her but the sooner the better, medically.”

Keith shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you. When can we see her?”

“She is being moved up to the ICU now. You’ll be able to go in and see her within the hour. She is limited to one visitor at a time so you will all have to take turns. I am sorry we had to meet like this but glad I could at least bring you some good news during this time.”

They thanked the doctor again and quickly made their way up to the ICU.

* * *

 

**5am Sunday, May 28, 2006**

They all took turns throughout the night rotating between sitting with Veronica, getting a few hours of sleep and making trips down to the cafeteria. Currently, Logan was sitting in a chair next to Veronica’s bed, holding her hand lightly with his head gently resting against her left thigh.

Her body was covered pretty much head to toe in bruises and cuts with tubes and wires protruding out of her body hooked up to varying machines. Her right arm and leg were elevated by pillows and protected by casts. She had a bandage around her head from a large laceration and her left eye was swollen shut. Even with all the trauma her body had endured, Logan still thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

He just wanted her to wake up. He wanted to look into her beautiful blue eyes again. He wanted to see her smile and laugh. He would give anything just to hear her yell at him again. He wanted to hold her. Kiss her. Tell her how much he loved her. He just wanted…”

“Logan?”

Upon hearing his name his head shot up off the bed and looked up to see Veronica looking back at him. He gently squeezed her hand to let her know she wasn’t alone. “I’m right here, Veronica. I’m right here, it’s okay, and you’re okay.” Mostly trying to reassure his own mind more than hers.

She started to move and immediately stopped as pain shot throughout her entire body. Her face paled and tears started flowing down her cheeks. “Ah, everything hurts!”

Logan stood up, “don’t move, Veronica. I’ll go get your doctor!” He raced out of the room and ran to the nurse’s station. “Can you call the doctor? Veronica just woke up and she’s in a lot of pain.” He saw the nurse nod and pick up the phone to page the doctor and then ran into the ICU waiting room to find Wallace, Mac and Keith staring at him. “Veronica’s awake! I told the nurse to call her doctor. She’s in a lot of pain but you should go in and see her, Keith.”

He didn’t waste any time. Keith took off down the hall to Veronica’s room entering the same time as her doctor. “Veronica…” He couldn’t get any more words out, he was so happy to see her alive and awake looking right back at him.

She was barely able to choke out, “Dad…” before he was at her side holding her hand and gently kissing her forehead trying not to cause her too much pain. “I’m so sorry, dad, I’m so sorry.”

Wiping tears from his eyes as well as hers, “you have nothing to be sorry about. Do you hear me? None of this is your fault.”

“I should have called you when I figured out it was Cassidy who blew up the bus. I shouldn’t have chased after him myself. If I would have just listened to you and left the dangerous cases to you none of this would have happened.”

“Veronica, listen to me. This is not your fault and you could not have known this would happen. You were trying to save Mac and she’s fine. This is not your fault, sweetheart. Cassidy and Woody are the only ones to blame.”

The doctor took this moment to cut in. “Ms. Mars, I’m Dr. Mayfeld. I understand you are in quite a bit of pain so we are going to give you some painkillers to help you out. I have to warn you, they will make you sleepy, which is a good thing because you need to rest. You came out pretty lucky for the type of accident the paramedics described. I’m just going to run a few routine diagnostic tests now that you’re awake and take some vitals. You should be feeling the medicine take effect very shortly.”

Keith sat by her bedside and held her hand as the doctor ran through his tests. He noticed Veronica’s eye grow heavy and slow close as the painkillers worked their way into her system.

* * *

 

**3pm Sunday, May 28, 2006**

Veronica slowly opened her eyes to a dark room. It took her a minute to remember she was in the hospital after the car accident with Cassidy. She saw her dad sitting in the chair next to her bed watching TV. “Dad?”

Keith turned his head with a smile on his face and slowly readjusted his chair to face her. He picked up her hand delicately, “how are you feeling?”

“Great. I think I could run a marathon.”

Her dad smiled even more at her joking. He knew she was feeling better than when she first woke up if she was now cracking jokes. His smile dropped a little. “You really scared me, kiddo. I don’t know what I would have done if you…I love you, Veronica. You’re all I have.”

“I love you too, dad. You’re all I have too, so try not to go anywhere.”

Keith shook his head a little and smiled. “I’m not all you have, Veronica. You have Wallace, Mac and even Logan. Those three have been looking for you since you went missing on Friday. They even drove all the way here to help look for you even after I told them to stay home. We were all worried about you and we are all here to help you.”

“I wouldn’t be here without all of you.” Eager to steer the conversation away from all the reasons she would no longer be alive if they didn’t look for her she decided to go with the old classic ‘change of subject’ tactic. “What happened to Cassidy?”

Keith glanced at his lap and took a deep breath before returning his gaze to hers. “Cassidy is on life support. The doctors don’t think he is going to wake up; he suffered a great deal of head trauma in the accident, so they are transferring him back to Neptune at the end of the week. His mother is flying in and she, along with Dick, will have to decide if they are going to keep him on life support or not.”

She nodded her head at the information Keith had shared. “And Woody?”

A big smile crossed his face. “I got him!” Veronica smiled, as much as she could manage up at her father. “I sent him back to Neptune with Frank McCoy, you remember Frank from San Diego all those years ago? I called him to transfer Woody back so I could focus on finding you. Cliff called me this morning and said that Woody has just earned himself a lifelong stay behind bars.” Keith flashed some celebratory jazz hands at her, “who’s your daddy?”

She cringed at his favorite expression and chuckled slightly because it was so good to be here with her dad and see him so happy. “You are.”

“Now as much as I would love to sit here with you all day, there are some people out there in the waiting room that are excited to see you.” Keith got up from his chair, kissed her gently on the forehead and went in search of her next visitor.

* * *

 

**5pm Sunday, May 28, 2006**

It was finally Logan’s turn to go in and see Veronica after Wallace and Mac had their time with her. He had been in her room many times throughout the last two days but she was always unconscious or asleep from the medicine. Besides the time she woke up when he was in her room and left to go get the doctor he hadn’t seen her awake. He nervously walked down the hall to her room and slowly peeked his head in. Her eyes were closed but he could tell she wasn’t sleeping. “Hey, sleepyhead.”

A small smile graced her lips, as she knew she was caught. Veronica opened her eyes and tracked Logan’s movements as he sat in the chair next to her bed. “Logan.”

His heart started beating rapidly while his stomach fluttered. God, it felt so good to hear her voice again. “How are you feeling?”

“Better than the first time you saw me. The drugs they hooked me up with have worked miracles and it’s not so excruciating anymore just a dull all over ache. I’m sure it won’t last long but I’m enjoying the relief for now. How are you?”

He chuckled at her question and smiled at her. “I’m good. I didn’t roll down the highway like you but I’m good.”

She looked deeper into his eyes and held her hand out waiting for him to hold it, which he did. She was very familiar with his coping mechanisms, trying to hide his pain through humor. “How are you really doing?”

His smile fell from his face as he looked down at their hands. “I almost lost you, Veronica. I…”

She squeezed his hand to get him to look away from their joined hands and back up to her face. “You didn’t lose me, Logan. I’m right here and I’m okay. A little bruised and broken but I’m okay.”

“When I heard what happened to you, I was so scared. You are the one person I would never be able to handle losing. Then when I saw you lying in this bed unconscious I was afraid that you would never wake up and I wouldn’t get another chance to talk to you or to hold you and tell you how much you mean to me.”

She knew what he was going through because she was going through it too. She couldn’t voice it like Logan could, she wasn’t ready to say those things to him but she felt it. She knew she couldn’t return those words to him but she could show him. She slowly inched over further away from him in her bed and patted the mattress next to her.

“Are you sure, I don’t want to hurt you.”

She smiled at him for always thinking of her first. “Just be gentle and move slowly.”

He nodded his head and stood up from the chair slowly moving onto the bed to lie down next to her. Mindful of her injuries he carefully wrapped his arm around her waist as he closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her in his arms again. “I love you.”

Veronica smiled and snuggled closer to him. She closed her eyes and felt safe lying there in his arms as they both drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End. Thank you all for going on this trip with me!


End file.
